liars it's easy ether New give chil-Ufe crit-can erwe 3rwe iffer-
oniy have d we dsin -but brus e. I led a Id be only things d^k.
espe-irer, is isin-riage ulose iseto ore. tui in com-by it .We keep ishby tols-
bring snsify ween t-Jew-bere. asis have ems, for or
Monumental decision changes artist's work from Jewish to inuit.
mm wmm staff reporter
fhen it comes to sculp-tiires of Northern and Inuit scenes, the Ber-netts take centre court. Sculptured art from the Ber-nett family is awarded to victors of the Canadian Open Tennis Tournament. In 1979, Bjom Boig received the very first Bemett trophy. Other tennis legends who have also been awarded Bemett sculptures include John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.
Imperial Tobacco also continues to commission the Ber-netts to produce trophies for the Du Maurier Classic golf tournament.
And in celebration of the Toronto Blue Jays winning the 1992 World Series, the city of Toronto commissioned the Ber-netts to produce a sculptuits for the Skydome.
Another impressive client is Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who bou^t Bemett sculptures to give to world leaders at the 1996 G-1 simmxit in Halifax.
And just who is this Bemett femily? The roots of this successful family-nm business actually stem from a Jewish monument (headstone) shop in Montreal.
Howard Bemett, 29, who comes to Vancouver from Mon-tareal for six w^ks each winter to sell family sculptures, recalled his familj?s entry into the world of art.
"My grandfather was a bm-tally honest businessman,'' he said. "He owned L. Berson & Sons [Jewish] monuments on the Main Street (St. Lawrence) in Montreal. Customers would come to him after purchasing a monument years before, and they would say things like *Mr. Berson, the monument is leaning forward. What should we do? And he would bang his hands on the desk and say l^ady, what do you want me to do? It's been 10 years, the casket rots, the body decomposes, there's nothing there Bitymore, and it leaves a space and the monument goes forward.' People would be hor-
' i drove
began running the monument business when Mr. Berson became iU in 1970.
"My father (David) hated every minute of it. It was very depressing for him. He was always looking for a way out. And one day he discovered a stacked piece of stone in the back
la
scenes," recalled son Howard. "He was selling his artwork there, and he found it rather M-filling. He was surprised how much he was selling. He then realized that he may have a venue out of this depressing monument business."
And indeed, by 1973 David had exited out of the Jewish mommient business to become a
ftdl-time artist.
Howard, who entered the family sculpting business in 1987, said that his father was always interested in Inuit art And to this day, the msyority of Bemett sculptures depict Eskimo and Arctic scenes.
"He always had a great fes-dnation for the North, and he always dreamed of going one day, and since he made a few Northern scenes on marble, he decided to go and get more ideas."
David took two trips to the Arctic, where he met other artists who encouraged him to continue his work. David also took photographs of the Arctic and its people, and then com-
of the monument shop, and he made something on it. I don't really remember S'it was a Chas-sidic piece, or an Eskimo scene on it, but that was the seed that was planted for this family business that we have."
David began to carve marble pieces as a hobby, and sold some on the side.
"My mother was a teacher at the time at United Talmud Torali," Howard said. "And she would put pieces on her desk during PTA meeimgs, and asked something like $25 for each sculpture. By the end of the
He also decided then that he would use mainly marble for his work. Said Howard: "He chose marble to be difoent and unique and also not to [detract] fsom^e economy of the Inuit people, to leave the soapstone to them."
Hies© days, fether and sons— brother Gary has also been involved in sculpting since 1978 — work together on sculptures, and sometimes they work individually. It takes upwards of 100 hours to carve and finish large
son-m-.
an 1^ sold."
Sculptiiig would remain a passionate hobby for David in addition to his running the Jewish monument shop. In the early 1970s, he got his own exhibit sponsored by Schara Zedeck )gue in " "
■ was a
recognizable name, signs all of the sculptures.
The Bemetts usually create tiie deBigjOB for their art at their homes, but they have a workshop in St. Jerome, Quebec, for heavy machining.
Howard said that the winter holidays bring a boom to the re~
advantage of this, he comes to
ai
scenes,
some
ancs rm& Koyai snoppxng centres. Bemett'sculptures are on • display locally un&'Dec. 31. □
NNOUNCEMENT
is pleased to announce Kathryn Basran and Michael Molson have joined the firm, and Marvin Stark, Q.C, will be joining as Associate Counsel to Cohen Buchan Edwards.
Marvin Stark, Q.C. Kathrsm Basran
Michael Molson
Marvin Stark, Q.C. has thirty-five years of corporate/commercial and legal relations experience. Marvin acts as general counsel to businesses, companies, societies and First Nations People. He has been involved in the legal environment of business program as an Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University since 1967.
Kathryn Basran, a five year member of the Canadian Swim Ifeam, graduated from the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan and with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto. Kathryn practices in the areas of faxmly law and personal injury.
Michael Molsoa, is articling and will be developing a corporate/commercial practice. He is fluent in Mandarin. At the National Chen Kong University, Taiwan, Michael spent three years in the Mandarin study program.
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